The invention relates generally to computer systems including field replaceable units, and in particular to an apparatus and method for testing compatibility between multiple boards inserted into a backplane, such as a front board and a rear board inserted into a midplane.
Distributed computing systems (or computer networks) are generally known. Computer networks typically comprise a plurality of personal computers, or workstations, or network appliances and other data processing devices connected together for information exchange. At the heart of the computer network is one or more network servers, hereafter generally referred to as xe2x80x9cservers.xe2x80x9d In most computer networks, network servers are responsible for managing the network, running applications, and administering documents or data generated at the attached data processing devices.
Network interface controller (NIC) cards commonly are used to couple the server to one or more computer networks. Both the SCSI hard disk and network interface controller connect to slots or connectors in the network server system board in a space designed and designated to accommodate their size and operational requirements. A server system board includes connectors for receiving external cards, such as the NIC cards. Other expansion slots may be provided on the server system board such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and Compact PCI expansion slots for receiving peripheral devices designed for those particular bus standards.
In electronic enclosures for servers that include a midplane design, signals can be communicated through a backplane between different boards, such as through a midplane between a front board and a rear board. Incompatibility between the front board and the rear board may cause unpredictable behavior or even damage to one or both boards. Compounding this problem, spatially keeping track of the front board with respect to the rear board can be problematic. Systems including a midplane design may be incorporated within closely positioned racks of systems. Thus, correctly inserting matching front and rear boards may depend on accurately counting card slots and system racks in one corridor, walking around to the other side, and then accurately counting racks and slots on the other side. A simple counting mistake can result in an incorrect board insertion, potentially causing faulty operation, board failure, or downtime of a computer. A solution to this problem should prevent damage to the front board if the rear board fails to match the front board, and/or prevent damage to the rear board if the front board fails to match the rear board.
To overcome the limitations described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, disclosed is an apparatus and method for checking compatibility of circuit boards inserted into a midplane of a computer. In one embodiment, a first circuit board and a second circuit board respectively store a first identification and a second identification. The first identification and the second identification may be required to be identical, or different. Each identification may be stored in a memory on the respective circuit board. The first identification is sent from the first circuit board to the second circuit board. At the second circuit board, the first identification is received and compared to the second identification. An incompatibility can be revealed after comparing the first identification and the second identification. One response to finding such an incompatibility is to prevent one or both of the first circuit board and the second circuit board from fully powering up, thus avoiding damaging interaction.
A computer system includes an embodiment with one or more circuit boards and memory storing one or more identifications of the circuit board(s).